Turned Upside Down
by obsessivelyolitz
Summary: My very first fanfic. It draws a bit from the actors. So please beware. I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm planning a series but I don't know where I'm taking this story yet. Just something in my head that I needed to get out. Please review. I'll really appreciate constructive criticism. Disclaimer: I wish Olitz is mine but Liv, Fitz and associates belong to S.Rhimes et al.
1. And I crave you

_New Jersey - Middle of May, 2 a.m_

 _Fitz held his phone in one hand and a drink on the other._

 _The family dinner was great. Karen was still on cloud nine from getting accepted to her first choice of college. Gerry was jovial, happily reported his team winning the last basketball game for Harvard, against Cornell no less. His son was also very pleased that Karen would not be in the same college as him. Apparently nothing could be worse than having your style cramped by an annoying smarty pants little sister. Secretly, Fitz could relate to his son somewhat. Both of his children had grown into wonderful adults and he thanked God profoundly for that._

 _Mellie and him did not have the best partnership or marriage. In the past ten years, they had stayed together, pretty much in name only, for the kids. He knew his children knew that their parents were no longer in love with each other. But he and Mellie worked hard to make sure that the kids knew they were loved more than anything. They raised their children in New Jersey and worked with each other to make sure that one of them would be home for the kids during the school year. Fitz was an actor and director, mildly successful in both if he said so himself, so he found himself in LA a lot. So much that he had bought an apartment out there, again, after trying to co-inhabiting with his somewhat Casanova of a brother, Teddy, for a couple of years. If he happened to work during summer, the kids would be spending their holidays in LA, which was always exciting for them._

 _Mellie was successful in her own right as a sound designer. She mainly worked for theaters in New York but some times, when a project interested her, she could be off for months in a different state. On a few rare occasions over the year, a different country altogether. When things like that happened during the school year, Fitz would just drop everything in L.A to be in Jersey full time for his children. That was another reason why, over the years, he had always turned down long term projects in L.A, no matter how appealing. He children came first. Period._

 _Mellie was not a bad parent. She worked hard for the kids and she was the more full-time parents that Fitz was. But she had a gypsy soul and sometimes that took over. Fitz learned that after the third time she left him with two children under 10 for months, only to come back as though nothing had happened. That was probably the one thing Fitz could stand not about Mellie. Well, that and her infamous infidelity while on set._

 _They should not have had kids. They should have let each other go a long time before Gerry was born. But Gerry was born and they had stayed. Even as the marriage crumpled and they were most of the time unable to stand each other, they had stayed. Coming from families with divorced parents, on one thing, they were united; they would not let their kids growing up being sidelined and neglected because of a divorce. So they stayed, frustratingly at first and then indifferently, in a loveless marriage._

 _Fitz was content with that. He was free to hookup, randomly with whomever he fancied. Not that he did any of it anymore. He had lost his interest and faith in romantic love. Until Olivia._

 _Olivia. Beautiful, sweet, funny, talented, incredible Olivia. She was a rising star. She took his breath away. It was no secret he had had the biggest crush on her just from watching her on screen. He had wanted to work with her. He had dreamed of being basked in that light that she somehow always radiated._

 _The day his eyes met her on the set of their now a hit TV show, he was speechless. Gosh she was ... gorgeous. She was like light, fluid and bright and radiant and warm. And then she looked him with brown eyes so large, so deep, so expressive. It was one of those moment when someone looked at you and you thought they could see through to your very soul. It was electricfying. It scared the crap out of him. He almost resigned there and then._

 _Except he did not have a chance to. They did a screen test and it was like magic. Their acting just meshed. Everyone on set was so excited. He was terrified. After they did the pilot, she was in his head all the time. He wished he could see her again. He wished the pilot would NOT be picked up by the network. The prospect of working with her even a few days longer somehow made him nervous and anxious to the point of nauseous, like that feeling he had when he walked into an audition earlier in his career. Or that feeling he had when he was about to ask a girl he really liked out when he was 16._

 _Crazy Grant, he should have run for the hills then. Because, after the first season, barely 5 months of being around her and only one sex scene, he was hooked. He was like a schoolboy, completely obsessed with his first crush. He dared not put a label on his feelings for her. Unconsciously, he waited for her. He watched for her. He learned things about her. He loved talking to her. He loved hearing her talk. Her love for everything she did was so contagious. Sometimes he just stared at her, drinking her in. He couldn't get enough of every little thing about her. The worst thing in all of that was, as her on-screen love interest, he knew what it was like to kiss those lips, to hear her moans, to wrap her up in his arms, to see and to feel his lighter skin next to her brown one. The contrast drove him nearly insane in the night when those images entered his subconscious._

 _He could feel their chemistry. He knew Olivia was not completely immune to it either. He could feel her staring when he was not looking. He could feel her eyes searching for his across a crowded room. He knew there was something between them, unspoken but yet so real. He also knew neither of them would act on it. He, because he would never drag her into a scandal with a married white man. He had been in this business long enough to know that it would be detrimental to her hard-earned career. She, probably because she had a strong set of ethics and being involved with a married man would be against that._

 _So he had contented himself to be her friend. They had talked a lot. They had become friends. Until a fated night, nearly 5 months ago, just before they went on the mid-season hiatus, they were at Cyrus's home for an early Christmas/end of year party. Toward the end, Olivia was noticeably inebriated. She didn't drink much normally but she seemed to have a great time that night with the cast. Having watched her all night, Fitz decided to stop her before she regretted it the morning after. He did not drink much, only nursing a beer all night long, being designated driver for a few of the cast. He volunteered to take them all including Olivia home that night. He dropped Abby and Quinn off first and then David. Olivia's place was outside the city limit so she was last to remain in his car. She had fallen asleep somewhere between Quinn's and David's house. He was halfway on the highway to her place when she suddenly spoke:_

 _"I want to go to the beach with you. And star gazing. I like the stars. I don't get to see them too often"_

 _"I think I should get you home and some aspirins or you'll wake up tomorrow with the worst hangover of this millenium"_

 _"L-O-L. That's laugh out loud. Have you become twitter literate yet?"_

 _"I'm old but I'm catching up. Don't underestimate me!" He jested._

 _"You are funny. You are smart too. And you are very very very hot. All the girls on set thought so" She said somewhat incoherently._

 _"Well, thanks. You are not so bad yourself. Anyway, we will get you home soon so you can sleep the alcohol off. I'm pretty sure you are more drunk than you think are if you start to give me compliments."_

 _"They weren't compliments. They were just facts. I hate you for all those facts though." She mumbled._

 _He didn't say anything. He couldn't really understand what she just said._

 _"It would have been easier if you are just hot. I have met a lot of hot guys. I can see through them easily. But I can't see through you. I just, I just see you. You being nice. You being understanding and humble and wise and considerate and incredible at what you do." She ranted on._

 _"I wish I am not attracted to you but the more I tried to untangle myself, the more attracted I became. I can't get you out of my head." She kept going._

 _He gripped the steering wheel as though his life depended on it. His heart was beating so fast, it would jump out of his chest soon._

 _"Stop, Olivia. You need to stop." He said, hanging desperately onto the final thread of control he had. Please God, make her stop. He prayed._

 _"I want to stop too. I'm in a relationship, you know. He's a good man. He doesn't crave fame or fortune. He's nice. But he doesn't look at me like you do. He doesn't kiss me like you do. His hands do not feel like yours. He lips do not feel like yours and I ... I crave you." She said, exhaling at the end like she finally let go of something heavy inside her chest._

 _He didn't say anything. Neither of them did for a long time. He steered the car toward an exit and somehow, almost unconsciously took them both to the ocean, like she had asked, before he stopped the engine completely. It was cold outside but it was warm in the car. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife._

 _After what feel like a few minutes, he spoke: "Liv, we are adults. It's chemistry. What between us. We turn it into good acting. It fits with the story. It's good for the show. But between us, it could never grow into anything else"._

 _He spoke slowly, choosing the words carefully. With every syllable he spoke, he felt his own heart break a little._

 _"Do you have feelings for me? Am I the only one feeling this?" She asked. She did not feel intoxicated any more. The tension between them had somehow drove all the alcohol away from her body. She wished she could still be drunk. She wished she could just laughed it off and pretended it was a drunk joke. But she could not do either. It was time they arrested the elephant in the room._

 _"I ... Liv. I don't think my feelings are relevant" He tried to dodge the question._

 _"Fitz, it's a Yes or No question. I need to know" She turned to look at him. Their eyes locked and like all the other times, a spell was cast over them both._

 _"I do. I wish I don't. I tried to pretend to myself that I don't but I do have feelings for you." He confessed._

 _Then and there, they both felt something clicked within each of them. Like puzzle pieces falling into place. The looked into the other person eyes. The tension was still thick but it had shifted a gear into something charged with passion. The world fell away. All the worries. All the logical reasoning. Everything else but each other became insignificant to them at that moment._

 _They weren't aware who made the first move but in a second, she was in his arms. Her face in his hands. Her arms around his neck, caressing his shoulder. They were not in characters. This was them being more true to themselves than they had ever been in their entire life. Kissing each other was so natural yet so erotic. They could not get enough._

 _Fitz dragged Olivia across into his laps. She straddled him. They smiled at each other and continued their kiss. Until Fitz grew so hard from her grinding. Until she started moaning his name through their kisses. Somehow his consciousness kicked in. He stopped them. He stilled her hip movements with his hands. His lips left hers while his forehead rested on hers._

 _Coming out of her haze of lust, Olivia could not understand why he had stopped._

 _"Do you not want me?" she asked, her voice breathy and throaty. Her arousal so evident, it was killing him sweetly._

 _"I don't. I mean I do" He added quickly, feeling her immediate withdrawal. Damn it, he needed more blood in his brain and less, well, he should not think about it if he still wanted some blood in his brain._

 _"I mean I don't want to have you like this. In my car. while you are still intoxicated. Not our first time. You deserve to be worshiped." He swallowed, trying not to think of the ways his body wanted to worship hers._

 _"I also don't want you to regret in the morning because you are drunk now" He added. His throat was dry. He was thirsty but not for water he needed to drink from her again. So he did, he lowered his lip and kissed her lips to quench his thirst. She let out another throaty moan._

 _"I'm not drunk. Not on alcohol anymore. You can do a breath test on me if you want. I won't regret it. So take me home. Your home." She said, with conviction. To leave no doubt of what he would do, this time, she was the one leaning in. She kissed him thoroughly. Deeply. Deliberately. Driving home the point that SHE was in control._

 _He looked deeply into her eyes for any hint of regret only to see so much passion reflected in her brown ones. God, how he loved those eyes of hers!_

9 weeks later,

11 p.m on a hot July night

Fitz approached a trailer, looking around to make sure no one was still around. It was a Friday night and they had already finished shooting so the whole lot was completely vacant, except for him. He discreetly knocked on the trailer door. Five consecutive knocks to let the owner know that was him. It was their code. The door opened and he stepped in.

\- "You shouldn't be here", she said, in lieu of greetings.

\- "I know it was late. I just thought ... I don't know, I've been looking for a chance to talk to you."

He was suddenly nervous. He hadn't been this close to her for months. He hadn't been alone with her longer than that. What the hell was he thinking? The thing was, he wasn't thinking. Not when it came to her. He needed to see her so he had stayed until she finished filming, knowing her routine to stay back a little longer than everyone else after shooting. She had told him that she needed her routine to decompress, to get out of character so she could be 100% Olivia Pope.

\- "Fitz, we agreed to stop. We can't. I can't ... do this anymore." - she replied. She looked up at him. There were pain in his eyes. His jaw tensed. She was hurting him and she hated herself for that. She could see the pain etched on his face and her own heart ached. Her hands itched to touch him, to soothe the pain away. But he was not hers to soothe. And she was not his. That was important. She needed to remember that.

\- "I know. You told me, on the phone. I haven't forgotten." - Forgotten? What a joke! That conversation was imprinted in his mind. He had played it over and over again inside his head, trying desperately to understand what had transpired. All he knew was that he had called her to tell her that Karen was accepted to Yale, pre-med major. He was a super proud Dad. He wanted to share that with her. He always wanted to share every little thing with her. It was maddening to him how she consumed every thought, every feeling of his. He was also going to tell her that he and Mellie had initiated the divorce process. But before he got to that, she dropped the bomb and turned his world upside down. It hadn't turned back to its axes since.


	2. Addicted

**_Woa, thanks for all who read and especially all those who reviewed. I am REALLY REALLY grateful ! This chapter is mostly from Olivia's POV. A another update hopefully would come soon, work and life schedules permit. Thank you all!_ **

* * *

March 2013

Olivia stood in front of Fitz's apartment door, wondering for the hundredth time what she was doing. What were they doing? Where would THIS thing go? She could feel her own handle on the situation slipping. On that fateful night in December, they had opened a door and crossed the threshold. Now, she did not know how to go back or IF she wanted to go back at all.

She hated the sneaking around, the lying and the covering up of them seeing each other. But she loved them together. Being with him was like a drug and she was a willing addict. When they were not together, she was consumed by guilt. When they were together, she was consumed by rightness. When she was with him, it was so easy. They talked. They laughed. They made love. They went for long hike. They ran lines together. He was so much ... of a man and she was so much of a girl but somehow, they fitted together like two pieces of a puzzle. She loved watching him working on his scripts. She loved observing every little thing that he does during the day like how he liked his coffee black but his black tea full of milk and sugar. She loved how when they were close, he would absentmindedly stroke her arms or her legs. It was as if he wanted to feel a connection to her.

She was falling in love with him and she knew it. She wished she were not. She tried to convince herself that it was anything but love. Ridiculous infatuation? Intense lust? Fascination? She had been in love before but this time, it scared her. Yes, it was wrong to love him. He did not belong to her. He was not free for her to love. But what terrified her was the magnitude and the depth of that love. She knew if she loved him, there would be no turning back. There would be no other. She knew that love would either make her the happiest or the most devastated. She knew it in her gut. So she resisted it.

Like she was resisting entering his apartment right now. She could just turn around, back to her car. She could call him, telling him they should take a break for ever because it wasn't right. She could. But she also wanted to go in there and stayed in his arms. For one more day. For as long as the universe let her.

Closing her eyes to summon the courage, she unlocked the door with the key he had given her. Just one more night. One more borrowed night.

She stepped into the apartment. For a guy living alone, his apartment was nothing like a bachelor pad. It might lack femininity but it was tasteful, warm and neat. For a millionaire son of one of Holywood legendary directors, his place was also surprisingly down to earth. His decor was classy but not ostentatious. Fitzgerald Grant the Third might share the name, the talents and the good looks with his ultra-famous father but he had none of his father condescending personality. Like this place, he was a warm, smart and very down to earth person. Sometimes, Olivia thought he really had no idea about his effects on women (and some men). Like what he was doing to her while he was standing at the kitchen island, smiling, oh-so-pleased with himself.

"Hi". He said.

"Hi". She returned, looking straight into his slate blue eyes. This evening, they were actually more gray than blue. She was somewhat of an expert in his eyes colors, which changed with the settings, his mood and also the surroundings. Today, he was relaxed so his eyes were blue gray. When he was angry, they would be just a cold gray. When he was happy, they would be bright blue. When they were making love, they would be a very dark blue laced with passion. She could almost tell his mood by his eyes color. The sudden realization of knowledge was strangely empowering for her at that very moment.

"You are a bit late." He said after a beat.

"Traffic was hell getting here. Plus, the shooting was cruel. Jake did not remember his lines. Who went to work not remembering their lines? We had to shoot the same scene like 20 times for him to get it right." She ranted on about a member of their cast.

"Hey, come here!" He gestured for her with open arms.

She stepped into his embrace. She loved this. This was why it was so hard to turn away. If she had gone home, she would just be alone in a big house with a bottle of wine and refrigerated foods. Or she could be out with her friends. But nothing could compare to being with him.

He hugged her closely. His hands stroked up and down her back to soothe away all the exhaustion and frustration. "I'm sorry I weren't there. I should have stayed to watch your scenes but I wanted to come home early."

"You didn't have to stay for me. I'm a big girl. I was just a bit frustrated. I wished I could have more scenes with you. You always know your line." She mumbled into his shirt. Her own hands re-exploring the planes of his back and shoulder. His scent warmed and relaxed her. This man could make the whole day better with a hug. She definitely needed to keep him around more. The thought suddenly sobered her.

"Why did you want to come home early?" She tried to push away from his embrace, using the conversation to cover her mood shift.

"Can you smell? I made us dinner." He pronounced proudly with a boyish grin that made her heart melted.

"You sure you didn't order take out and warmed it up in the oven to score some point with me?" She challenged him. Just because.

"Ye of little faith. Come here, I'll show you my legendary chicken roast." He said theatrically, pulling her into the kitchen to show her the chicken roasting in the oven with lots of vegetables around.

"Fine. You win" She said, tiptoeing to give him a quick kiss. Their first kiss since they both left for work this morning.

She pulled his lower lips into her mouth and sucked his taste in for her own enjoyment. Then she released him, quickly finished the kiss.

"You are paying for that stunt, little miss!" He threatened her darkly while she looked up at him teasingly.

3 ... 2 ... 1

She tried to take off. But she was only three steps out of the kitchen before he caught her by the waist. She tried to wiggle out of his vice-like arms, toppling both of them onto the floor.

"Fitz !" said her, breathlessly between bouts of laughter.

"Liv ! " He returned, continued to hold her tight on the floor.

"Why are we on the floor? " She asked.

"Because you were being cheeky, missy!" He answered and turned over so he was now on top of her.

The mood changed instantaneously when he looked into her eyes. It shifted effortlessly from playful to charged with passion.

"I was just going to kiss you, you know. But you had to run. Now you are in trouble!" he told her, his voice lowered an octave, becoming even deeper than it normally was. It turned her on even more than his lean muscular body on top of hers.

"So what are you going to do now?" She asked throatily, big brown eyes full of lust focusing on him. She wished he would kiss her lips. She wished he would touch her. Some where. Any where. Every cell in her body was craving his touch at that precise moment.

"Now, I'm going to spread you on that kitchen counter." He said slowly, his movements deliberate. He picked her up from the floor and did just that. Her entire body was putty in his arms. She let out an involuntary moan.

"Now, I'm going to undress you" His hand moved to her blouse and slowly, oh so slowly lifted it up and over her head. She was speechless. She complied to his wishes, knowing she would surrender to only this man. His fingers touched her lightly, enticing moans and groans from her. She tried to remove his shirt, to touch him and made him feel even a fraction of her desire for him. But he stopped her.

"Not yet."

In the same maddening slow deliberate way, he removed her pants and shoes. Then he just stopped, taking all of her in. No matter how many time he saw her like this, every time, her beauty hit him by surprise. If he had a life time of undressing her, he would never get over how beautiful she was. Especially her eyes. Eyes so intelligent, so strong, so passionate. Eyes, at that moment, were full of desire for him. She made him feel invincible. This woman here, this woman right in front of him, was the one he would move haven and earth for. He would bring her the moons and the stars and be the best man he could ever be for her.

"You are ... beautiful." He told her reverently when he leaned down to kiss her.

This time the kiss was thorough. The tongues clashed and dueled for dominance. They could not have enough of each other. Her hands were everywhere working their magic. She enticed him, aroused him, soothed him, all at once. She helped him removed his shirts and his pants, trying to hurry him to make love to her. But he slowed her down, making her savor the moment. He stilled her hands.

"Shhh, ye of little patience. " He adoringly kissed her forehead, then her cheek bones. He moved lower, showering his love to her mouth, her neck, her shoulder, moving further and further south. When he reached her nipples, she cried out in pleasure.

"Fitz, please!" She begged.

"Shh, patient, it will be worth the wait, I promise." He loved both of her breasts equally, making the her nipples stiffened with his suction and licks.

Then he moved lower, showering little open kisses to her ribs and stomachs. Olivia was delirious with pleasure from his ministration.

"Baby, please" she begged again.

"shhh..." He kissed her mouth again to reassure her. She returned his kisses with equal passion, to stoke as much fire in him as he had aroused in her.

Lingering on a thread of control, he stopped the kiss before he gave in to her. He left her mouth and made a wet open kisses journey down her body again. As he reached the juncture of her thigh. She almost cried out in anticipation. He smirked and continued his journey down her body, loving her toned legs with both his hands and mouth.

"Fitz!" She cried out in both unbearable pleasure and need.

"Hmmm, since you asked so nicely..." He moved up again, slowly, loving her long legs all the way. He could not have enough of any and all parts of her body. He would die happy worshiping her body.

When his mouth touched her clit, Olivia nearly jerked with intense pleasure. He held her down, ministering kisses and licks to her center like only he knew how. Olivia was aroused, it didn't take him long to bring her to the very brim of climax. He put two thick fingers inside her and brought her all the way to the top.

The orgasm hit Olivia like a freight train, so powerful and unstoppable. She jerked up. Her whole body spasm. Fitz continued to licked and tasted her essence, riding the climax out with her.

Just before her orgasm finished, Fitz moved up and entered her in one smooth stroke.

"Ohhh, Livvie!" He let out a low groan at the sensation of being joint with her.

She met her stroke for stroke. They moved to their own rhythm. The whole world fell away. In that space, at that time, Liv didn't feel like he was not hers to love. She felt like he was already hers. He was already in her heart. Every one of his touches, his kisses, his movements, they were all for her. His eyes looked straight at hers, connecting their souls together.

She lifted her hands, stroking his curls that she loved so much. She brought him close and kissed him deeply.

He used his tongue to arouse her even more. His movement became faster. His stroke deeper. He repeatedly hit that sweet spot that made Liv cried out until another orgasm hit her. Her body quaked this time from the magnitude of the orgasm. Fitz rode along with her and reached his own climax.

They stayed unmoving for minute, basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

"Woa!" Olivia exhaled.

"Yeah, woa!" Fitz agreed with her.

Both of them started laughing silly.

"That was crazy." Liv said.

"You love it" said Fitz.

"I do and I know you do, too" Live jested.

"I do, any time with you, any where is special." He confessed.

Liv didn't say anything because the words "I love you" were at the tip of her tongue. Because in that precise time and space, when he was smiling at her with blue eyes dark with passion and adoration, when his hair messed up and curly with the sweat of their love making, Olivia Pope knew that she was in love with Fitzgerald Grant the Third.

"You OK?" Fitz said, detecting some change in her mood.

"I'm OK. Can you just hold me for one minute?" she asked gently.

"OK but one minute because I think that chicken might be ready soon and you probably need to shower."

"Just one minute". Olivia said but in her mind, she started to wonder "How many more minute could I borrow?".

* * *

 ** _So I intended to be pretty short in this chapter but it kinda blow up. Oh well, Liv and Fitz had fun in this chapter. How do you feel? Next chapter will pick up from the phone call. I just wanted them to have some happy time first._**


	3. Empty

**So I'm back. Thank you for following the story! I really really appreciate every single follower and read and encouragement.**

How did she get here? Olivia asked herself while she was walking down the isle to Edison. She was not in love with Edison. She loved him, she knew that. But she also knew she was not in love with him. Not that all-consuming, once in a lifetime, taking your breath away kind of love. Not the epic, devastating, painful love. How could it when her heart and soul belonged to another? And yet, there she was, about to be married when the man she was in love with was across the country.

Olivia took a calming breath for courage and sucked in all the feelings and doubt she had. Her gut might tell her it not the right move but her brain had thought it through. There was no other way. She had agreed to marry Edison, to a life with him: 2.5 kids, a dog and picket fence. They were both working professionals so he understood the demands of her career. He had always understood resigned to be second her career. Plus, he was a good man. They had an easy relationship. It might not be passionate or explosive but it was good and steady. All in all, Edison and her could work really well. Her heart ached and constricted as though she had held it tightly in her fist when she thought of a lifetime with Edison...

Her heart ached for Fitz. She knew that. It had been 5 weeks since she last saw him. She was determined to get over them even as she closed her wet eyes at night, missing so much. He was not hers to keep. Sure, they had a great time but as soon as the season finished, he flew away to his family. Sure, he tried to call everyday. Sure, every single night, he texted her good night. Sure, every morning, he texted good morning. But she didn't pick up. It was the chance for them to make a clean break. She couldn't live her life dreaming of a man who could only be with her in the shadow. She couldn't spend her life waiting for him. She definitely was not going to be able to live with herself if she asked him to leave his family and destroy both of their career in the process. For all its openness, Holywood and America would not forgive infidelity easily.

So to prove to herself that she was over Fitz, she agreed to marry Edison when he asked. And then, things had moved so fast. In one short week, they were here, getting married in a small church in Lake Tahoe area. Why wait? Edison asked. He said he had waited his whole life. Olivia didn't have a good answer to that so that was what they were going to do.

"Do you, Olivia Carolyn Pope, agree to marry Edison Davis?" the preacher asked her, breaking her train of thoughts.

Olivia looked around the almost empty church. Their parents and Edison's siblings were the only guests to the short-gun wedding."I ... Yes, I do!" She said finally.

The preacher pronounced them husband and wife and they kissed. Edison was happy. Her parents were happy. So she played along and slipped into the happy bride's shoes. She was an accomplished actress, after all.

After they made love on their wedding night, Edison fell asleep spooning to her. It was the perfect day for him.

For Olivia, she felt relieved when she heart the soft snores of her husband. Husband. The word sounds strange and foreign on her tongue somehow. She looked at the clock on the night stand: 10:15 p.m. It was just after 1 a.m on the East coast... He would call in 45 minutes. He always called at 11 p.m her time, without fail, every night since he flew out even though she had stopped picking up after the second night. He always left a message even though she had stopped listening to them after the first week. His voice weakened her resolve and she could not afford to be anything less than strong.

10:30 p.m. She tried to snuggle closer to Edison, trying to find the strength from him.

10:45 p.m. She tried to relax, willing herself to sleep.

10:55 p.m. She gently moved Edison's arms out of the way, grabbed her phone and left the room.

She went into the mini bar, gotten herself a bottle of water and went to sit outside on the balcony. The breeze was nice tonight. She could see the silhouettes of the trees lining the lake shore. She could see the twinkling of stars. The slightly cold fresh air and the stillness of the night calmed her momentarily. Then the phone rang.

She left it ringing three times. Should she tell him? It would hurt him. She knew in her gut that he loved her, that he loved her the same way she loved him. She had never told him she loved him. He had not verbalized his feelings for her either. But it was there in their touch, in the way he looked at her, in the way he searched for her, in the way he held her, in every sigh and moan and kiss they gave each other. She felt as though they were both victims of that super villain called love.

The fourth ring. She picked up.

"Hi" she said, steeling herself for the onset of feelings coming with the anticipation of hearing his voice again after 4 long long weeks.

"Hi" he breathed on the other side.

Gosh, he sounded so damn good. One syllable and she felt like he was with her again. Her skin tingled with the memory of his touch. Her fingers ached with the memory of his skin. Her lips remembered the texture of his.

"I thought I was going to leave another voice-mail tonight." He said, sounding a little relief, a little amused and a whole lot hopeful.

"I told you we needed to stop." She told him, trying to sound unaffected.

"And I told you we would never be over." He replied.

"You are married. You have kids. We were never going to last". She almost screamed into the phone.

"We will. You know that!" He shot back, sounding annoyed.

"No we won't. We were never meant to be more than a fling. A thrill to you. A mistake I made." She said, hurting for reducing them to that but we had to stop.

"Don't you dare, Livvie! We are more than that!" He said slowly but with a lot of anger.

"Really? You're married, with kids. And now, I'm married too. How many more times do I have to tell you that we were nothing more than a fling to me?" There, she said it. She gave it to him in the most cruel way possible. She might not be able stop herself loving him but she could try to make him stop loving her. She felt hollow at the thought.

"You are ... you are married? No, no, don't. Don't try to make me go away. I am not going away, Liv!" He said in disbelief.

"I'm not. It was the truth. He asked me three weeks ago and we were married this afternoon. He is a wonderful man. I love him." She added for good measure. Tears running down her cheeks and wetting her sleeves. She would not cry, she steeled herself. This was for both of them. They could hurt now but it would prevent even more heartache in the future.

"Goodbye Fitz, please don't call me again. Have a good summer." She hung up quickly before she broke down.

On her wedding night, Olivia stayed out on the balcony until sunrise and cried until all her tears dried out. She cried for hurting Fitz. She cried for herself. And she cried for her love.

Then she picked herself up, went to bathroom to take a long hot shower.

When Edison wake up the next day, she was making breakfast with a smile on her face.

"My woman's making me breakfast. I like that!" He hugged her from behind. She cringed a little before forcing herself relaxing into him with a smile... She would make this work! And she would make career soar. That was all she had left.

And she still felt so empty inside.

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review. :)**


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